Car-door lock



May Z7 1924.

W.l S. WITTEN OAR DOOR LOCK 2v Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 5, 1922 1- a g1% a a. ze

May 27, 1924. O 1,495,372

v w. s. WITTEN v CAR DOOR LOCK Filed March 3, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented May 27, 1924.

WILLIAM s. WITTEN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

n GA3-DOOR LOCK.

Applicationled March 3, 1922. Serial No. 540,687.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. lVI'rrEN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Door Locks, ofwhich the following is a specification, refer ence being had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to locks for car doors and has for its object toprovide an improved gravity-operated combined latch and lock for suchdoors which will be arranged so that a car seal may be readily appliedthereto, and which will be self-lubricating so that it will not be aptto get out of order through exposure to the elements; also to provide adevice of this character which may be used on doors arranged to swinglaterally as well as to move endwise, and to provide means by which thelatch may be secured either in its operative or in its inoperativeposition. I accomplish this object as illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter described. I/Vhat 7 I regard as new is set forth in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a side view of part of a freight car showing my improved lockand latch applied to the door thereof;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the lock, the cover plate of the case beingremoved and some parts being in section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing some modifications;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the locking device used in thearrangement shown in Figs. 2 and 3; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the locking device shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings,7 indicates the side of a freight car, 8 theusual sliding door thereof suspended by hangers 9 from a rail 10, and11, 12, 13 the side and bottom panels of the car door frame.

14 indicates the casing of my improved lock and latch, and 15 the latchmember mounted therein. This latch member comprises an intermediateportion or hub 16 which is mounted upon a pivot 17 mounted in the sidemembers of the case near the lower margin thereof, as best shown in Fig.2. From this hub 16 extends a shank 18 having a head 19, the lowerportion of 'which' is extended downward to form a lock or latch bolt 20.The head 19'is also providedk with an upwardly-extending rib orprojection 21 adjacent to its outer margin, the purpose of which will behereinafter set forth. Extending from the hub 16 at an obtuse angle withthe shank 18 is an operating arm 22 whichv projects through anopening'in the caseV so that itis conveniently accessible for operationbyh'and. As shownin Fig. 2 the head 19 is provided with a shoulder 23adapted to bear on the lower margin of the case and form a stop tolimit-the downward movement of the head 19 and bolt 20. When the latchis in its normal position the bolt 2O extends down through an opening inthe lower margin of the case so that it is adapted to engage a keeper 24secured' in the proper place toreceive it. Preferably this keeper has ayrecess 25 in which the bolt 20 fits, and at one side of said recess is abevelled guide block 26 which projects out from theside of the car sothat when the door hasbeen swung away -from the side of the car, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, the rounded lower margin 27 of thebolt 20 is adapted to ride up onsaid:- guide until it may pass intooperative engagement with the keeper when it will drop by rgravity tothe position shown in Fig. 2. yAs best shown in Fig. 2, the outer marginof the bolt 20 is rounded so thatl when the door is moved endwise suchrounded portion of the bolt will engage the keeper and the bolt therebybe lifted so that it will move into engagement with the keepersubstantially in' the manner just described.

` As locks of this description are exposed to the elements it isdesirable that means be provided for keeping the moving portions welllubricated, 4and to this end the case 14 is provided with a chamber 28in its upper portion adapted to receive oily waste or other lubricatingmaterial. This chamber Iis provided with an opening 29y arranged in thepath of the projection 21, which'is adapted to enter it when the head 19is moved to its uppermost position. When this'occu'r's said projectionreceives oil or other lubricant from the chamberp28, and as 'thelubricant flows down over ythe latch it will be evident that wheneverthe latch is operatedlit will be lubricated, and consequently will'not,be4 apt to deterioratebecause of moistureff Forlockingthelatchinoperative position position when desired, a locking armis provided which is mounted at its upper end on a pivot 3l supported bybosses 32 which project from the case as best shown in 2. The shape ofthis locking arm 30 is best shown in Fig. 5 ironrwhich it will be seenthat it comprises a vertical arm 33, the lower end portion of which isprovided with a recess 34 adapted to receive the operating arm 22 of thelatch, and also a horizontal arm 35 which is adapted to move intoalinement with a fixed flange 36 which projects laterally from the coverplate 31 of the case, as shown in Fig. 3. The parts 3b, 36 are bothperforated as shown at 38 1n Fig. 5 so that a car seal may be passedthrough said openings, thereby sealing them together. The arm 85 andiange 3G are so placed that they register when the locking arm 30 is inits operative position shown in 2, and since at that time the leekingarm is in operative engagement with the operating arm 22 and the bolt 2Ois projected into engagement with the keeper the application of the sealwill prevent the lock from being unlocked. lVhen the device is usedmerely as a latch the locking arm 30 may be thrown over on top of thecase. as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that the latch may befreely operated. Preferably the car door is provided with two of theselocks arranged near its opposite lower corners, shown in Fig. l. but ifdesired additional locks may be applied to the doors at points higher upto support the door intermediately, as is desirable in the case otcattle cars, or where the door is subjected to considerable strainintermediately. Also it will be understood that in some cases it may bedesirable to apply the keeper to the door and the latch to the side ofthe car instead of the reverse arrangement shown in Fig. l. As shown,the portion of the arm member 22 that projects from the casing is curvedupward on an are substantially concentric with the pivot of the lockingarm 30 so that as such locking arm is moved into or out of operativeposition it is held in interlocked engagement with the arm 22 during theentire time that it is opposite such arm member So curving the armmember 22 and recessing the adjacent iace of the locking arm 30 permitsnot only a very strong interlocking et these parts but also enables suchtwo parts to lie in the space between the planes ot' the side walls ofthe casing, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

lf it be desired to secure the latch in its inoperative position, thismay be accomplished by swinging the locking arm 30 down against theupper margin of the op erating arm 22 so that the lower margin oftheloclring arm 30 rests upon said arm and holds the latch in theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

meager/za instead of using the locking arm 30 for the purpose of holdingthe latch out ot operative position a swinging arm 39 may be employedfor this purpose, as shown in Fig. ll, in which the arm 39 is mounted ona. pivot l-O carried by a bracket elfi, said arm being in such positionthat it is adapted to swing by gravity over the upper end ot the operating arm 22, as shown by dotted lines in said ligure. In Fig. l I havealso shown a dit ferent form of locking arm which acts on the upperportion of the head 19 instead ol on the operating arm 22. ln thisconstruction the locking arm comprises a shank 4t2 pivoted at its upperend on a pivot 43 and having an arm la which is adapted to swing throughan opening in the case so that it overlies the upper portion ot the headif) when the bolt 2O is in its operative position. The shank l2 is alsoprovided with a plaie ,4:5 which extends in a direction opposite to thatof the arm le and is adapted to register with a plate lr6 which projectsfrom the margin of the case. The two plates i6 are perforated to receivea car seal. indicated by dotted lines in Fig. land shown at 4:7 in 6.lNhen the arm i4 is in its operative position, which it assumes hvgravity. the bolt 2O is held projected since the head 19 cannot swing`upward. The lock ing device 4t2 may be thrown up out ot operativeposition, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, when it is not desiredto use it. While my improved lock and latch is de signed primarily foruse on car doors it may be used in any other situation for which it isadapted, and the claims should be cone strued accordingly. l wish it tobe understood also that my invention is not restricted to the specificconstruction shown and described as various modifications may be madewithout dejjjarting therefrom.

`What l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. The combination with a door, ot a latch comprising apivotally-mounted member having a downwardly-projecting bolt at one sideof the pivot thereof and a curved operating arm projecting at theopposite side of said pivot, a keeper adapted to cooperate with saidbolt, and a swinging arm movable into position to engage said curved armand lock it in operative position, the pivot oi' said swinging arm beingsubstantially concentric with the curvature or" the ojierating arm.

2. The combination with a door, of a latch comprising apivotally-mounted member having a downwardly-projecting bolt at one sideof the pivot thereof and a curved operating arm projecting at theopposite side of said pivot, a keeper adapted to co operate with saidbolt, and a swinging arm movable into position `to engage said latch andlock it in operative position, the pivot of said swinging arm beingsubstantially concentric with the curvature of the operating arm.

3. The combination with a door, of a latch comprising` apivotally-mounted member having a downwardly-projecting bolt at one sideof the pivot thereof and a curved operating arm projecting at theopposite side of said pivot, a keeper adapted to cooperate with saidbolt, land a swinging arm movable into position to engage said operatingarm for locking the latch in operative position, said swinging armhaving means for interlocking it with said curved arm, and the pivot ofsaid swinging arm being substantially concentric with the curvature ofthe operating arm.

4. The combination with a door, of a latch comprising apivotally-mounted member having a downwardly-projecting bolt at one sideof the pivot thereof and a curved arm projecting at the opposite side ofthe pivot, a keeper adapted to cooperate with said bolt, and a swingingarm movable along said curved arm and having a recess in one face toreceive such curved arm, the pivo-t of' said swinging arm beingsubstantially concentric with the curvature of the operating arm.

5. The combination with a door, of a latch comprising apivotally-mounted member having a downwardly-projecting bolt at one sideof the pivot thereof and a curved operating arm projecting at theopposite side of said pivot, `a keeper adapted to cooperate with saidbolt, a swinging arm movable into position to engage said latch and lockit in operative position, and means associated with said swinging armfor sealing the latch in its operative position, the pivot of saidswinging arm being substantially concentric with the curvature of theoperating arm.

6. A latch comprising a case, a swinging latch member pivotally mountedtherein and having a downwardly-projecting bolt at one side of the pivotthereof and an upwardly-curved operating arm projecting from the case atthe opposite side of said pivot, and a locking arm pivotally mountedoutside of the case above said curved arm and having means fordetachably interlocking with said curved arm, the curvature of saidcurved arm being substantially concentric with the pivot of said lockingarm.

7. A latch comprising a case, a swinging latch member therein, and meanslocated over and operated by the swinging of said latch member forsupplying lubricantl thereto.

8. A latch comprising a case, a swinging latch member therein, areceptacle in the upper part of said case for containing lubricant, andmeans operated by the swinging of said latch member for supplyingthereto lubricant from said receptacle.

9. A latch comprising a case, a pivotallymounted latch mem-ber thereinhaving a head at one side of the pivot thereof and an operating arm, anda receptacle in said case for lubricant, said receptacle having anopening lying in the path of said head whereby when said latch member isswung lubricant will be supplied thereto Jfrom said receptacle.

10. A latch comprising a case, a pivotally mounted latch member thereinhaving a head at one side of the pivot thereof and an operating arm, arib carried by said head, and a receptacle in said case for lubricant,said receptacle having an opening in the path of said rib whereby whensaid latch member is swung lubricant will be supplied thereto from saidreceptacle.

WILLIAM S. WITTEN.

